Designing with Trees and Shrubs

Hilary Swaim is teaching a class on planting design at Cheekwood Botanical Gardens & Estate on Saturday, October 10. It's called Designing with Trees and Shrubs, and it runs from 10 AM to 12 PM.

The session focuses on two things that usually get lumped together but deserve their own attention: how to plan your trees and shrubs, and how to actually get them established. Swaim spends the morning walking through planting design—the way you arrange trees and shrubs to work together rather than just filling space—and the practical tips for getting them in the ground so they actually take. The understory gets a good deal of the focus here, too, so it's as much about the layers beneath the canopy as it is about the trees themselves.

If you've ever looked at a garden and wondered why some layouts feel natural while others feel random, this is where that gets broken down. It's not just about picking a plant you like; it's about how it fits into the larger picture of the site. Swaim covers the design side first, then moves into the establishment part—the watering, the mulching, and the early care that determines whether a tree thrives or struggles in its first few years. It's a two-hour window that takes you from the drawing board to the dirt.

Cheekwood is at 1200 Forrest Park Dr in Nashville, and the class runs from 10 AM to 12 PM on Saturday, October 10.